Central Otago is set to host the next Otago Regional Council (ORC) meeting, being held in Cromwell on July 24.

The ORC makes a point of holding meetings in each of the constituencies once a year, and the public are welcome to attend.

Anybody interested in speaking in the public forum should let the council know to give staff and councillors advanced warning.

Dunstan ward councillor Gary Kelliher said holding the meetings in the regions was not an easy exercise as staff have to relocate from Dunedin for the day, and the meeting has to be set up on a livestream.

“The ORC is attempting to be more inclusive of the regions by holding at least one meeting in each area, and I do think it’s a good thing. But unless it includes topical papers then it can be a total waste of resources and efforts required to hold the meetings outside of Dunedin.”

Central Otago issues should be discussed at Central Otago meetings, and this was a good attempt at being more meaningfully engaged with its communities, he said.

Last year’s meeting in Cromwell attracted three people from the public and one of those was knitting, Gary said.

“The public forum is way under utilised by ratepayers and stakeholders.”

Air quality would be one of the more timely topics that the ORC was working on across the regions, and in Central Otago in particular over winter with the high use of wood burners.

ORC would also be likely to give the councillors and the public an update on its Land and Water Plan, which was currently at stage four with stakeholder consultation involving iwi.

The Cromwell meeting will be held at the Gate from 1pm to 5pm on Wednesday July 24.